An Aberdeenshire runner and her 80-year-old mum conquered the 10K race at Run Balmoral in memory of her sister.
Hazel Rickman and her mum Rosemary Wright completed the women’s 10K race at Run Balmoral on Saturday.
Mrs Rickman, who lives in Laurencekirk, says her mum came from Derby just to take part in the popular Deeside race.
The pair are avid runners and even took part in a 10K race in Derby last month.
Mrs Rickman explained that her sister, Debbie Watkins, died of cancer during lockdown. She was also a keen runner, and she made their mum promise she would carry on with the sport until she turned 80.
And last Tuesday, her mum celebrated her 80th birthday, but Mrs Rickman believes she has no plans to stop running just yet.
When they ran around the stunning Balmoral estate the pair wore t-shirts dedicated to Team Debbie.
“My sister loved running,” she said. “She would have loved to have come up to Balmoral.
“We decided to keep running because she can’t. She’s always with us on every run and now we have the t-shirts it means when any family members run together we’re sort of taking her with us.”
‘She’s kept her promise’
She describes her mum as her “inspiration”, and pushes on with running because she does.
Mrs Rickman said: “She’s amazing, isn’t she? Before my sister died, she made my mum promise she would keep running until she was 80.
“She’s not going to stop now, but she just feels like she’s kept her promise.”
Although they came last, the pair were welcomed by a cheering crowd and encouraging marshalls. She said finishing the race with her mum by her side was “amazing”.
She said: “It’s always special. I run on my own here and I miss having her to run with, we just put the world to right as we’re running.
“It is really special to be able to run with your mum, and do something you love with someone you love, you both get a lot out of it.
“It’s all about my mum this weekend, she inspires me. I keep going because I know she keeps going.
“I know we finished last, but the applause and the cheers we got as we finished was amazing, I wouldn’t change that for the world.”
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